Method of and apparatus for grooving wire



Aug. 8, 1939. c. K. HILL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR GROOVING WIRE FiledDec. 24, 1956 2 vSheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNE .5:

Aug. 8, 1939. c. K. HILL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR enoovms WIRE 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 24, 1956 INVENTOR. 6710/4/66 A. HalfATTORNIK'g Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OFAND APPARATUS FOR GROOVING WIRE Application December 24, 1936, SerialNo. 117,496

8 Claims.

This invention relates, as indicated, to methods of and apparatus forgrooving wire, but has reference more particularly to the grooving ofwire for the purpose of providing stock from which spiral-groove nailsmay be formed.

It has heretofore been proposed to manufacture nails having spiralgrooves and ribs, as a result of which the nail, after being driven intothe parts to be secured together, could not be withdrawn by a directlongitudinal pull, but could only be withdrawn by a turning movement ofthe nail during the pulling thereof.

The principal difl'iculty attending the manufacture of such nails wasthat of imparting to the wire from which the nails were formed groovesand ribs of uniform pitch. Furthermore, due to the method by which suchnails were manufactured, they could be produced in limited quantitiesonly andat a cost which made the general use thereof prohibitive.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novelmethod and apparatus where by nails having spiral grooves and ribs ofuniform pitch can be manufactured in commercial quantities and at a costnot appreciably in excess of the cost of ordinary nails made from wireof the same size.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of forminggrooves-and ribs in Wire 30 for use in making nails of the aforesaidcharacter, which method is continuous and requires a minimum ofattention on the part of the operator.

A further object of the invention is toprovide apparatus for practicingthe aforesaid method which is positive in operation and adapted for thegrooving or ribbing of wire of various diam eters and for the productionof grooves and ribs of various pitches. 40 To the accomplishment of theforegoingand related ends, said invention, then, consists of the meanshereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims,the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth indetail certain means and one mode of carrying out the invention, suchdisclosed means and mode illustrating, however, but one of various waysin which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the apparatus forgrooving wire for use in manufacturing nails in accordance with theinvention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross sectional (Cl. -10) I View,taken on 'theline 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4.1: a w

front elevation of the wire grooving device, with the cover removed tomore clearly show the arrangement of the grooving disks; Fig.5 is anenlarged view of a nail made from wire grooved in accordance with theinvention; and Fig. 6 is a further enlarged transverse cross-sectionalview of the nail, taken on the line 66 of Fig.- 5.

Referring first to Figs. 5 and 6,,a nail manufactured in accordance withthe present invention consists, as shown, of a head I and shank 2. Theshank 2 has formed therein a plurality of spiral grooves 3, 4, 5 and 6,extending longitudinally of the nail and arranged a quarter turn apart.grooves, a grooving disk is employed which displaces metal laterally toform at one edge of the groove a rib extending outwardly from thesurface of the nail, such rib terminating in a fairly sharp edge. Theribs are designated by reference numerals l, 8, 9 and it. As the nail isdriven, the spiral ribs engage the wood and produce a rotary movement ofthe nail as it is forced into the wood, the portion of the woodcompressed'by the ribs being forced into the grooves and therebyforming, when the nail is driven, complete keys precluding longitudinalmovement of the nail. V

Nails, as thus described, are manufactured by the usual heading,pointing and cutting operations fromlong coils of Wire which havepreviously been spirally'grooved and ribbed by a continuous method andby means of apparatus which will now be described. The apparatus forgrooving and ribbing the wire is best shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, there is illustrated a table II havingsupporting legs l2. Mounted on the table at suitably spaced points arebearings l3, l4 and [5, in which is journalled a shaft consisting ofsections Iii and H rigidly secured to each other and respectivelyprovided with aligned axial passages l8 and I9.

Threadedly secured to the forward end of the shaft section [6 is a hubplate 2G,,which is locked in position on such shaft section by means ofa lock nut 2i. Secured to this hub plate, as by means of cap screws 22,is a chuck 23 having an annular flange portion 24 of slightly reducedexternal diameter extending from the front face thereof, and which isinterrupted to provide a plurality of radially extending passages 25. Inthe present embodiment of the invention, four such passages areprovided, although as will presently become apparent, a larger orsmaller In the formation of each of these number of passages may beprovided, depending on the number of grooves and ribs which it isdesired to simultaneously form in the wire.

Mounted in each of the passages 25 for slidable movement radially of theflange 24 is a disk holder 26. Each disk holder is in the form of ahollow block having a wall 21, the radially outward surface 23 of whichtapers slightly from front to rear but is arcuately curved in adirection transverse to the front to rear direction, as clearly shown inFig. 4. The radially inner end of the disk holder is provided withspaced trunnion portions 30 having seats for the reception of a pin orshaft 3|, the axis of which is inclined with respect to the generalplane of the chuck 23. The pin 3| has rigidly secured thereto a groovingdisk 32, which is freely revoluble in its holder, and the peripheraledge of which is of V-shaped cross-section.

For the purpose of maintaining the holders 26 in their radiallyoutermost position, the chuck 23 is provided with pins 33 which serve asseats for springs 34, which bear against the walls 21 of the holders.The radially outward movement of the holders is limited by an annularband 35 which is threadedly secured to the chuck 23, and engages thesurfaces 28 of the holders. The inner surface 36 of this band is taperedfrom front to rear to correspond with the taper of the surfaces 28 ofthe holders, so that upon rotation of the band, the holders will besimultaneously adjusted. This adjustment is permitted by reason of aclearance space 29, which is provided between the radially outwardsurface of the flange 24 and the inner surface 36 of the band 35. Itwill be apparent from the foregoing that radial adjustment of thegrooving disks for the purpose of grooving wire of various diameters maybe easily accomplished by the simple expedient of rotating the band 35towards or away from the chuck 23. To facilitate such rotation, the bandis provided in its outer peripheral surface with sockets 31 for thereception of a wrench or other tool.

Secured to the flange 24 of the chuck is a cover plate 38, to which inturn is threadedly secured a spider 39, the hub of which has securedtherein a guide 40 for passage of the wire W to be grooved and ribbed.

The chuck 23 and associated elements are positively rotated by mechanismcomprising an electric motor 4|, pinion 42, gear 43 and shaft l6 IT. Thespeed of the chuck may be varied, for which purpose an extra gear 44 isprovided.

In addition to the grooving apparatus. proper, which has been described,there is mounted on the table II a take-up reel or drum 45 for thegrooved wire, which drum is mounted for rotation about a vertical axisand driven in synchronism with the grooving apparatus by mechanismcomprising a worm 46 which is keyed to the shaft section II, worm gear41, bevel gears 48 and 49, shaft 50, bevel gears 5| and 52, verticalshaft 53, and clutch section 54. The drum is of standard constructionand need not be further described.

The operation of the apparatus will now be described:

The wire W, which is to be grooved and which is in the form of a coil,is mounted on a feed reel or drum (not shown) and is passed through theguide 40 and passages 18 and IS in the shaft sections I 6 and H, theleading end of the wire being then secured to the take-up drum 45. Themotor 4| is then started, causing the chuck 23 and associated parts tobe positively rotated, and at the same time, the take-up drum 45 ispositively rotated to pull the wire through the grooving head andreceive the convolutions of such wire. As the wire travels through thespace between the grooving disks 32, the disks being free ly rotatableabout their axes, rotate about the wire, the peripheral edges of thedisks being forced into the wire, thereby forming the spiral grooves 3,4, 5 and 5, and incidentally to the formation of such grooves, thespiral ribs 1, 8, 9 and I0, respectively adjacent thereto. The takeupdrum rotates at a speed sufiicient to maintain tautness in the wire, andthe linear speed of the wire is maintained constant by virtue of thefact that the grooved wire always contacts first with the lower orwidest portion of the drum. This is possible because the preceding coilsof wire continually slip upward and away from the lower portion of thedrum and onto the narrower portions, since the drum is tapered for thispurpose. Consequently, instead of winding the Wire in layers one overthe other with a constantly increasing winding diameter which wouldincrease the speed with which the wire is drawn through the apparatus,the wire is always wound on a surface of the same diameter and is pulledthrough the apparatus at the same linear speed. In this way, it is notnecessary to change the speed of rotation of the drum to compensate foran increasing diameter of bundle, but the drum can be rotated at aconstant peripheral speed while pulling the wire through the apparatusat a constant linear speed.

For a given angular setting of the grooving disks, that is, for a givenpitch of the grooves and ribs, a definite and predetermined ratiobetween the speed of the take-up drum and the speed of the grooving headis maintained. The speeds of the drum and head may, however, beincreased when it is desired to increase the production of grooved wire.In order to vary the pitch of the grooves and ribs, it is necessary tosubstitute for the holders 26 other holders having grooving disks set ata different angle to the general plane of the chuck than that shown, inwhich event, a different ratio between the speeds of the grooving headand take-up drum must be established, depending on the new angle. Inorder to establish a different ratio between the speeds of the groovinghead and take-up drum, the bevel gears 48 and 49 are replaced by othergears.

Due to the constant linear speed of the wire and the positive rotationof the grooving head, a coil of wire is formed in which the pitch of thespiral grooves and ribs is absolutely uniform and unvarying from one endof the coil to the other. The coil of wire, thus formed, is then used tomanufacture nails by the usual heading, pointing and cutting operations,the finished nail being shown in Fig. 5.

During the grooving operations, a certain amount of heat is generatedwithin the grooving head, and for the purpose of dissipating this heatand ventilating the head, the spider 33 may be provided with fan blades55. i

After the entire, coil of wire has been thus Other modes of applying theprinciple of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained,change being made as regards the means herein disclosed, provided thosestated by any of the following claims or their equivalent be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention 1. A method of preparing stock for spiralgrooved nails whichcomprises continuously unwinding wire from a roll, imparting to saidwire throughout its length a spiral groove, and winding the grooved wireon a drum having a tapered surface.

2. A method of preparing stock for spiralgrooved nails which comprisescontinuously unwinding wire from a. coil, pressing wire-grooving meansagainst the surface of the unwound wire, and winding the grooved wire ona drum having a tapered surface, whereby a spiral groove of uniformpitch is formed in the surface of said wire substantially throughout thelength thereof.

3. A method of preparing stock which comprises continuously unwindingwire from a coil, rotating a wire agrooving disk about the unwound wire,with the disk engaging the wire, and wind ing the grooved wire on a drumhaving a tapered surface, whereby a spiral groove of uniform pitchformed in the surface of said wire substantially throughout the lengththereof.

4. Apparatus for grooving wire which comprises means for positivelymoving said wire at a constant linear speed, said means including a takeup drum having a tapered surface, means rotatable about said wire forgrooving the same.

as it is thus 'moved, and power-driven means for rotating saidlast-named means.

5. Apparatus for grooving and ribbing wire which comprises means forpositively moving said wire at a constant linear speed, said meansincluding a take up drum having a tapered surface, grooving disksrotatable about said wire and operative to simultaneously impart to thesurface of said wire spiral ribs, and power-driven means for positivelyrotating said grooving disks.

6. Apparatus for forming spiral grooves of uniform pitch in the surfaceof wire of circular cross section, comprising means for exerting a pullon said Wire including a take up drum having a tapered surface, meansfor grooving the wire so pulled, said means comprising a chuck havingmore than two grooving disks therein, and means for positively rotatingsaid wire-grooving means about the wire as it is pulled by'saidfirst-named means.

'7. Apparatus for grooving wire, comprising a chuck having radiallyextending passages therein, holders slidably mounted in said passages,groov ing disks journalled in said holders, spring means normallybiasing said holders in a radially outward direction, and means formoving said holders against the pressure of said springs in a radiallyinward direction, said lastnamed means comprising an annular band inthreaded engagement with said chuck and having its inner pe ripheralsurface tapered relatively to the axis of the band, whereby when theband is rotated relatively to said chuck, said holders willsimultaneously be forced radially inwardly.

8. Apparatus for grooving wire, comprising a chuck, a plurality ofholders slidably mounted in said chuck, grooving disks journalled insaid holders, means for rotating said chuck about the wire, and a guidefor passage of the wire to be grooved, said guide removably secured tosaid chuck.

CHARLES K. HILL.

